Alejandro Escallon, Panama

My name is Alejandro, I live in Panama and have the honor to be the current President of the Porsche Club de Panama. I am currently 33 years old, but my passion for this brand began long ago thanks in big part to my dad, who has always been a petrolhead and Porsche fan.

Probably my first memories with Porsche are back from when I was 8 years old, my dad would take me for a drive in his red 930. I remember perfectly the acceleration, the engine and turbo sound, but most importantly the adrenaline and the satisfaction of moving around in this outstanding machine.

I grew up surrounded by the car world, as a kid always preferred hot wheels rather than other toys, watching F1 – and so the passion continued to grow. During college, my dad and I decided to buy an old 928 on which we did some restoring. That was my first Porsche.

Obviously at this point I was a big fan of cars and motorsports but then my preference with Porsche became clear. We have always been part of the Porsche Club and started to participate more and helped out in any way we could. After many years, I was invited to cooperate directly with the committee that planned some events and since then I have been very well connected with the Porsche community.

I had the opportunity to travel abroad and be part of other Porsche Clubs events and have learned many things from that. One is, that the Porsche passion is the same worldwide, no matter the country size, Porsche fans are very passionate everywhere; second, Porsche connects with its owners differently from other brands, not all other brands have customers so passionate about their cars and Porsche Clubs are always present in many car events, have the largest parking lots and in short, we Porsche owners and Club members seem to have this passion fever stronger than others.

The Porsche language is real, and I have been able to witness it. In 2018, I traveled to Los Angeles for an event and everyone I met there was extremely friendly and they all were very happy to have Club members from Panama assisting their event in California.

We in Panama have a saying: "We are Panama's fastest family". As we like to consider our Club a family, we try to make most events family friendly, the idea is that not just the members, but also their family and friends could participate and learn a something about the Porsche world.

As President of the Club in Panama, one of the fondest memories was having Magnus Walker as a special guest at our Concours Elegance event and driving alongside with him the Panama streets; being able to connect with other Clubs in the region and seeing the Club grow in the last years. Other special moments for me with Porsche are the visit to the museum, the factory and the launch of the 918 Spyder at the Frankfurt Auto Show, which was an epic night. Assisting the 12 hours of Sebring in 2012 was epic too, my first endurance race and I want to repeat it.

But probably the best memories come from the 2018 RennSport Reunion at Laguna Seca. This event is something that words and pictures fall short to describe, you have to be there to experience it. Walking through the paddocks, seeing 550 Spyders getting ready on one side and 962 on the other side is simple beyond words. This event is like a moving museum, it is probably the best car event there is. Obviously I will attend the next one!

What's next? Well, I am sure many new great memories are to come. The Porsche community is so unique and awesome that I know that many new special moments will come. I enjoy driving and am grateful to have the opportunity to enjoy driving and sometimes taking my 981 to a track day. This car is so perfect in many ways that I always end up enjoying it to the fullest and appreciating more and more the engineering behind it, the racing DNA, the design, its agility – but most importantly the fact that you can relate to its soul. The man-machine connection is possible in a Porsche, no matter the model, and if you can take it to a racetrack, then the smile gets even bigger.

I could say that whenever I have the chance to travel, I would spend some time visiting a Porsche Dealer or a Porsche Club activity. It is crazy how one can get so connected to a car manufacturer, that visiting a Porsche dealer or participating in a Porsche Club activity in another country could be part of your travel plans. Sincerely, most of the times when I have done this, the travel experience becomes more memorable. My first time in California could not have been better, thanks to all the Porsche people we met. Same happened in Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia. I have always promoted the invitation of other Porsche Clubs to our events in Panama, and it is surprising that we have had guests from more than 10 countries, including Europe.

Being part of the Porsche community is simply fantastic, being able to contribute to its growth is an honor and my plans are to continue doing so!